Progressive Politics in Minnesota, the Nation, and the World

So Long

I never believed that America would allow such a thing to happen. Our democracy is much more fragile than I realized and it is about to be put to the ultimate test.

Four years of this vengeful narcissist is hard to imagine, but I guess the people have spoken.

They know not what they do.

Hillary Clinton did not deserve this. Barack Obama did not deserve this. The 20 million Americans about to lose their health insurance did not deserve this. The soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan do not deserve this. And quite frankly, the large numbers of Trump supporters who have struggled economically do not deserve this. And least of all, the planet earth, on the brink, does not deserve this.

The United States has made a choice. And they chose poorly. But that is how it works in this country. For good or for ill, we, as a nation make those choices.

I have never been politically afraid before. But I am now.

Barack Obama made the closing argument. He said progress was on the ballot. Health care was on the ballot. Climate change was on the ballot.

And even more ominously, it seems, our basic values and standing in the world was on that ballot.

I am going to take a hiatus from this blog for awhile. My thoughts and ideas aren't of much value in this new world we have decided to venture into. I am going to avoid, as much as I can, watching this transition take place.

The idea of Rudy Giuliani as attorney general, or a climate denier as head of the EPA, or the possibility of Sarah Palin as Secretary of the Interior, are just too absurd to even comment on.

Let's Keep Fighting With Her

I have spent this last couple years (well more like 8) as a Clinton supporter. I have always felt that although she may be an imperfect candidate, she will make an outstanding President.

I will admit that Bernie tugged at my heart. He had the right message and some great ideas, but I still felt that when it came to understanding foreign and domestic policy - especially in regards as to how to implement it - Hillary had the edge.

As usual, the controversies ensued. There are so many Clinton haters on the far right and they never have hard facts, they only need to put their imagination into print. Case in point is the "Clinton Cash" piece of trash which uses innuendo and tainted facts to try to bring down one of the most admired and effective charity foundations in the world.

The e-mail scandal was another fabricated piece of dogma. An exhaustive FBI investigation and hours and hours of Congressional testimony has found nothing. But the facts don't matter - they use the idea that she made a mistake in setting up a private server and used every conceivable cause and effect relationship they could insinuate. It became fact in social media and on Breitbart....and with Trump using his far right bully pulpit and echo chamber, his followers will believe anything.

I am amazed at some of the things put on Twitter as if they are unquestioned in authenticity. There are no real sources - all it takes is one opinion expressed in a personal blog and the echo chamber does the rest.

If Hillary wins tomorrow, I am not naive enough to think that any of this hate and fearmongering will end. But what disappoints me is that so many people who should know better fall into the same trap.

Bernie supporters, naturally, would look for policy failings of Hillary Clinton and make a case that way. Fine. I fully understand those differences. But these crazy election fraud theories and her being deep in the pockets of Wall Street. That was way overblown. Yes, DWS was inappropriate plenty of times, but she wasn't the entire DNC - plenty of committee members disagreed with her policies (Gabbard and Rybak to name a couple). My personal opinion was that she should have stepped down long before she did. But that was then, this is now.

But what disappointed me the most was that a lot of progressive people started attacking Sec. Clinton with links to Breitbart and Drudge and PowerLine and Red State. C'mon - these characters don't understand what real research and reporting actually is. They just tell lies. And lies should never be used for convenience.

If Clinton wins tomorrow, she needs our support. She also needs us to challenge her when she strays off a progressive policy line. There is no reason not to oppose her on some policy initiatives, but we need to do it on the merits, not on just some kind of false mistrust.

There will be plenty of obstruction going on. I imagine the GOP will hold the House...and the Senate can still filibuster. She may have to compromise on what she really wants in order to get most of what she expects accomplished. We have to listen to that. Have her back when she argues the point. Be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when it is not fully what we would like to see.

Let's not get into making the perfect, the enemy of the good. We have an opportunity here once more. She will be different from Obama - but she may have a better start than the former President because she will know from the beginning what it is that she is up against.

Let us at least try to have a united front as Democrats. We are up against a Republican Party that has been wounded, but it makes them more dangerous because the ugly side of the GOP is seeping through.

We have to hold the high ground and give Hillary Clinton the benefit of the doubt. She has fought hard. She has taken a lot of abuse. But like she says, she just keeps fighting.

Trump Needs To "Drain that Swamp" Of His Own

Trump's entire argument against Hillary Clinton is "corruption". But there are a couple of problems with that.

First of all, despite all of the Alt-Right attempts to do so, none of these "investigations" have turned up any criminal wrongdoing. All of the claims, all of the innuendos, all of the books written...nothing, absolutely nothing has led to any criminal charge, much less any conviction.

The E-mails are just the new Alt-Right version of the birther controversy. With no hard evidence, they simply keep it alive on social media and with blatant lies on their echo chamber websites.

And if you are going to "drain the swamp" as Trump's new battle cry seems to be, then it would seem that Republican control of the "swamp" Congress in Washington should be thrown out.

And more swamp. What about Chris Christie (head of transition team) where evidence is much stronger of actual corruption in bridgegate. Or Rudy Giuliani publicly stating leaks from the FBI and the Russians.

Speaking of Russia, what about that "swamp". Trump is either a dupe or a conspirator on Russian interference in our election. Roger Stone seems to have a direct line. Russian propaganda sites are quoted in the campaign.

And what about the "swamp" of voter suppression. Polling places for early voting in the south disappear. Voting days are eliminated. Times are changed to be inconvenient. Voter ID laws are taking their toll as planned.

Yeah, let's "drain the swamp"....the swamp that led to the Republican Party nominating a swamp dweller who discriminates against minorities, belittles our military campaigns, has a joke of an economic plan, has a vendetta against anybody who criticizes him, and has never had the temperament to be President of the United States.